Flash of Pink
by EWhiteOwl18
Summary: There's a killer running around Japan: Beautiful Killer. The task force created for him is running full speed ahead to find him. But what if Beautiful Killer is actually Beautiful Killers? And what if that "he" is actually "she"? Ikuto Tsukiyomi, the head of the task force, and Amu Hinamori, his number one suspect. What happens when the two collide? Rated T for... creative killing.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay! Jeez, I'm really piling the work on... *sighs* Oops. XP Okay, so this story is actually thanks to Nini Hearts. She read another one of my stories and actually asked if I could write a story with this idea, and I said yeah. Originally it was gonna be with mountaingirl47, but she had so much work, and I just didn't really wanna give her more. (Layla: *rolls eyes* *sarcastically* You're a saint. Me: Shut it. You know I didn't mean it like that.) But that's essentially it! So disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara, and Nini Hearts has the original idea, so... Yeah. That goes for the whole story because I'm a lazy writer. :D**

**Flash of Pink**

**Chapter 1**

There were voices. Four voices. All of them feminine. All of them _insane_.

All of them belonging to people who were going to kill him.

Hideyoshi Kimura was lying on the cold, hard, dirty ground. He didn't know where. And he didn't understand: Why _him? _Why were they killing him in particular? They could've killed anybody else, but they chose to kill him. Why? He'd never done anything wrong. Kept his nose clean. So out of all the people in Japan, why did they choose him?

Hideyoshi quickly scolded himself for the way he'd thought that. It's not why were they going to kill _him. _It's why were they _killing. _He couldn't see anything. He didn't really know why that mattered to him so much. After all, wouldn't it be better to not see the end coming toward him? Or was he still fixed deep down on the idea that he just might make it out of there alive?

If he could have, Hideyoshi would've laughed. Even if the women didn't give the final blow themselves, he still would've died. He'd lost too much blood. It was miraculous he'd survived this long. Without serious medical treatment at that very moment, he would die within minutes. And he doubted that the killers would stop what they were doing to give him blood transfusions or stitch up the worst of his wounds.

"Neh, Chou, how much longer do you think this guy has?"

"Hm. Probably less than a minute. Actually, he probably won't even hear the end of this conversation."

"Why does it matter so much to you, Etsuko?"

"Hisoka, don't be so mean! You know that Etsuko-chan doesn't like beating a dead horse!" The voice paused and giggled. "Beating a dead horse. A dead horse. Hee hee. That's funny!"

"Sure, Etsuko. That's _very _funny." The voice muttered, "A really _bad _kind of funny."

"Akane, do you want to do the honors and finish him?"

There was a brief pause where all the voices went quiet. And then a smooth voice said, "I'd love to. Thanks for asking."

For a moment, Hideyoshi's vision cleared. Maybe it was because he was right on the brink of death. He looked up and saw a flash of pink before one of the women buried a knife in his chest.

Hideyoshi coughed once. And then again. And then he breathed his last.

Akane stood up straight and wiped the blood on her knife off onto Hideyoshi's clothes. Of course, they had no earthly clue that his name was Hideyoshi Kimura. The didn't know his past. They knew nothing about him except for his appearance before and after they'd gotten their hands on him.

"Nicely done as usual, Akane."

Akane smiled and looked at Chou. "Thanks. You did good too. Alright, girls. Time to clean up."

They were gone within five minutes.

* * *

Meanwhile, the police force was in total panic mode.

There were people running every which way, carrying stacks of papers, boxes of evidence that they all knew was useless but had kept anyways, and a few were holding phones , frantically taking down statements from people who swore that they knew who was doing the killings. The uncatchable killers. And even though most of them knew it was hopeless, they tried anyways.

Someone fell in all the madness and papers flew everywhere. A man with long purple hair who wasn't carrying anything bent over to help him get everything back together. The man looked up at the feminine male with something close to awe. "Thank you, Fujisaki-sama."

Nagihiko Fujisaki smiled brightly at him. "Please, call me Nagi." He winked at the man who had fallen and put a finger to his lips. "And don't let the boss hear you call anyone -sama, okay? You know how he gets about that."

Nagi handed the man his papers. The man, still awestruck, stuttered, "Th-thank you, Nagi-san."

Nagi laughed and got to his feet again. Someone walked up behind him and clapped his shoulder. "Helping out the newbies, Fujisaki?"

Nagi smiled. "Of course I am, Kukai. Since _some _of us aren't so nice to do so."

Kukai Souma put a hand to his chest. "I'm hurt, Nagi. Just the other day I helped one of them stand up when he fell."

Nagi stared at Kukai. "You hit him with a soccer ball so hard that he was forced back to his feet."

"You call it hitting, I call it friendly pushing. And _by accident, _mind you. I meant to friendly push the guy behind him."

Nagi rolled his eyes. "And who was the guy behind him?"

"_I _was behind him."

Kukai rubbed the back of his head, laughing. "Aw, come on, Kairi, it was all in good fun."

The computer technician Kairi Sanjou stared coldly at the over-excited field agent. "I could've gotten you fired."

"You wouldn't actually do that to me, would you Kairi?" When the green-haired man didn't answer, Kukai visibly deflated.

"Calm down, now," Nagi said, smiling. "We're all friends here."

Kairi pushed his glasses up his nose. "You are my coworkers first and my friends second. Now just because you're field agents doesn't mean that you can't get work done in the office like us sedentary people. Go and do something."

"Like what?" Kukai asked.

Kairi sighed. "Go organize information and evidence like everyone else in this room is doing."

"What?! But that's the new guys' work!"

"Your point?"

"Kairi, that's not fair!"

"Would you two shut up? I've got a headache as it is, and you two are just making worse."

"Tsukiyomi!" Kukai exclaimed, running to meet his boss and the leader of the police organization.

"I _told _you, Kukai," Ikuto Tsukiyomi growled, "Call me Tsukiyomi-sama during work hours."

Nagi sweat-dropped. He was happy that Ikuto hadn't come about two minutes earlier when one of the new guys had called him "Fujisaki-sama."

"Tsukiyomi-sama," Kairi said as way of greeting. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work. Like _these _two should be doing."

Kukai laughed, embarrassed. "Aw, now that's harsh. Telling that to the boss. I'm sure he's got enough work as it is without you pointing out flaws to him. You're like a secretary."

"Yes, I _do _have enough work," Ikuto said. "Something that you two can help me with. And I overheard Kairi telling you to organize evidence. Don't do that."

Kukai's face lit up. "All right! I knew you would pull through for us-"

"Instead of that, Kukai, you can go get me a cup-no, a _pot _of strong black coffee and also some medicine for this awful headache."

Kukai's excitement drained away in record time. "But that's _worse _than a newbie's job!"

Ikuto glanced at Kukai. "While you're at it, get me something to eat. How about a pumpkin spice scone?"

Kukai leaned over desperately as if to beg. "But the only place that sells those at this time of year is all the way across the city!"

"If you don't stop complaining, I might develop a sudden urge for some candles. Candles like, oh, the ones from the next city over."

Kukai leaned over in defeat. "Yes, Tsukiyomi-sama." He slumped toward the door through all the chaos. Right when he was about to walk out, he called, "Ikuto!"

"Kukai-" he growled, but the sporty agent was already gone.

"So, is this also field agent work?" Ikuto looked at Nagi. He was laughing awkwardly. "Well, Tsukiyomi-sama, what can I do?"

Ikuto shook his head. "You can just stay out of the way. Kukai was just grating on my nerves."

A smile slowly broke out onto Nagi's face. "Then you mean...?"

"I tried for the scone this morning and they were out of ingredients. Won't have any more until tomorrow morning. And Kukai doesn't know how to make a pot of coffee. I asked him a while back and he nearly lost a hand trying."

Nagi attempted to smother his laughter but couldn't. Knowing Kukai, he would probably run around the city for the rest of the day, trying to do as Ikuto asked. After all, if he came back empty handed, he was afraid that Ikuto would tell him to do something else. Ikuto walked away. "Oh, Nagi, can you actually get me some medicine? I was serious about my headache. This case has been taking a real toll on me."

Nagi smiled sympathetically. This case was a hard one. It was taking a toll on everyone. It was a big media story. Everyone knew about the Beautiful Killer. The media had dubbed him that. Every body found had a new design; the very first body, one Kiyoko Kato, was designed as a butterfly. She'd been bled almost dry and the blood had been used to paint butterfly wings on the ground behind her. The most recent one, Rikuto Mori, had been posed as The Scream. The mouth couldn't physically open as wide as the painting suggested, so his jaw had been broken to accommodate for that.

The worst part was that not only was the killer desecrating the bodies. He was avoiding capture by giving them all of this information. They had a knife impression that could lead them to him-if the knife existed. There was no previous data of any knife like his existing. It was completely and totally unique. There were so many different forms that his "art"-Nagi shuddered at the term-took that it was impossible to know why he'd picked those in particular. There was so much information-but nothing condemning. Nothing that would send the Beautiful Killer to jail.

The door flew open and a police officer ran inside with wide eyes and a pale face. "We've got another kill!"

When Nagi looked at Ikuto, he could see that his boss would need more than a few painkillers.

**Okay! Finished! Um... That's all I have to say. Um... Yeah. Sorry if it's a little bit weird about the killings, it's just that I read a book and the killer did something similar to that and I was like "Omg I really wanna write something like that" and here it is... Well, hope that you guys liked it and especially you, Nini Hearts. Was it what you hoped it would be? I'm really sorry if it isn't! DX But review, fave, follow... That's all for now!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, peoples! Jeez. This is weird. More people like stories that I think they'll hate than the ones I think they'll like. O.O Should I be getting some kind of message from this...? Ah, well. Try not to worry too hard about that. XP But onto the story! Hope you like it!**

**Flash of Pink**

**Chapter 2**

_Hideyoshi Kimura. Age 28. Brown hair. Green eyes. Six-foot. Occupation: Accountant. From Japan. Live in America since age five. Arrived back in Japan six months ago. Cause of death: knife wound to heart. Style of death: Roses._

"What is this supposed to mean?" Ikuto growled at the new officer. He fumbled to answer but couldn't form the words due to his fear of the tall man standing before him. Ikuto was in an even fouler mood than he had been before.

"Um... If I may." Nagi slowly pushed the other officer away. "What part in particular are you talking about, Tsukiyomi-sama?"

"This. Style of death: roses?" He threw the file onto his over-crowded desk. His navy hair was messy, more so than usual, at least. His button-down shirt and tie were out of order, to say the least. "How can someone die like a rose? It's not like he withered up. He was _stabbed._"

"Well, you see, sir," Nagi said soothingly. "He wasn't killed like a rose. He _was _stabbed. But if you turn to the next page in the file you can see his death photo." The purple-headed man turned the page in the file accordingly. "It looks like barbed wire was wrapped around his body. His shirt was off when we got there. According to one of the men he worked with, he'd been wearing a white dress shirt. And right around his heart..." He stiffened involuntarily. "Right where his heart was... Someone had carved a rose around the knife wound."

Ikuto froze. "Were these barbed wire wounds inflicted pre- or postmortem?"

Pause. "Pre-mortem. Almost peri-mortem."

Ikuto grasped his swivel chair like his life depended on it. "Pre-mortem." Silence. "Look up anyone who's bought barbed wire in the last week-no, the last month."

"There was already barbed wire at the scene before they were there. The killing was right outside a juvenile detention center."

Ikuto massaged his temples. _A juvenile detention center. Does that have some kind of significant meaning to him? Maybe he was in a juvenile detention center at one point? And this was his way of spitting on the system? But maybe he just went there because there was barbed wire. He's escaped being caught thus far after forty-three victims. He probably wouldn't trip up on something small like that. He's too good. _Ikuto stopped, realizing that trying to soothe his temple wasn't doing any good.

"This is too weird," Ikuto muttered. "He's giving us so much possibly-significant information that it's impossible to tell what's important and what's not. Do you think he's doing it in case he ever messes up? So we'll pack it away with everything else that could be one of his mistakes? And this 'art' idea he has behind it... What _purpose _is there? Maybe he's mocking us. Saying that not only can he get away from us, but he can do it 'with style'." Ikuto shook his head. "None of this makes any sense."

"Well, if you think about it, killing never makes any sense." Ikuto glared at Nagi, sending an obvious _you're not helping _signal. "Well, maybe if we look back into everything else, maybe in the very beginning of the killings-"

"We've _done _that already. Twenty times at least. And all that's done is waste our time and get more people killed. Nothing's showing up. Nothing sticks out as weird in his behavior. Well, weirder than normal. Everything is the same except for place and picture. Eveything else is the same. The style aspect of it is the same. Every time he uses the same knife that _doesn't exist. _And every time he manages to get away with plenty of time to spare." Ikuto tapped his foot.

"We'll come up with something," Nagi said sympathetically. "We've always caught everyone in the past, haven't we? There's a reason that the boss assigned us to this case. He has faith in us."

Right. Nikaidou. He'd been the one who'd put them on the case. "That may be true, but isn't it just as likely that he just wants to put on a show of trying for the press?"

Nagi stared at Ikuto doubtfully. "Tsukiyomi-sama, you and I both know that Nikaidou isn't the type of person to give up before even trying." Pause. "Also, I don't think he's quite lucid enough to think up something like that."

He said "lucid" because Nikaidou was a smart man. Without a doubt, he was brilliant. That's why he was the head of the whole police force-not just the task force or the main police. He was the boss of _all _of it. Obviously he was unbelievably intelligent. But he never quite _acted _like the smart man he was. Actually, he acted more like a five-year-old child.

"Tsukiyomi-sama, maybe you should take a day off," Nagi suggested. "You haven't eaten or slept well since this case started. It's been, what, six months now? You need to take a break at some point."

Ikuto put his large hands over his face. "I will. Just not now."

"When?"

"When we catch this guy."

"Ikuto-" Nagi caught himself. "Tsukiyomi-sama, you could run yourself into the ground at this rate. You need to take a break."

"I will. If not when we catch him, when there's something I can do while on break."

"Tsukiyomi-sama-"

"I know! My break will be taking a nap in here. I think I'll collect right about now. So leave."

"Tsukiyomi-sama-"

"Nagihiko. Please leave."

The fact that Ikuto had said please made Nagi leave. He never said please. Nagi walked out the door.

Ikuto plopped down into his swivel chair and placed one hand over his eyes. They were getting nowhere. There was just too much of _nothing. _And what they did have-the knife, the art-didn't exist or make any sense. They couldn't do anything with this.

"This case will be the death of me," Ikuto grumbled. It was just too _much_.

Suddenly, the phone in his office rang shrilly. Ikuto jumped, not expecting the sound. He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"H-hello?"

Ikuto stared at the phone in his hand. It was a man-in his twenties, Ikuto estimated-and he sounded absolutely terrified. He paused and wondered why a person like this was calling his phone. People were told to call the Beautiful Killer's hotline if they had any info. Internally sighing, Ikuto tuned back into the man on his phone. "Yes?"

"I-is this Ikuto Ts-tsukiyomi?"

"Yes, it is."

"I h-have some information for the case."

Ikuto paused. "How did you get this number."

"W-well, I'm friends with N-nikaidou... He told me to call you."

_Nikaidou? _"Did you tell him about this 'information'?"

"Yes, and he gave me your number..."

Ikuto had to admit it-he was interested in what this man was about to say. If Nikaidou had heard it and sent him to Ikuto directly, it must be important. Reliable, too. He may not be completely sane, but he was brilliant and could tell if something was true or not. "What is this information of yours?"

"Well... I was walking down the street... A-and I thought I heard something. It was in an alley. So I looked in and... And..." The man sounded as if on the edge of tears. "And... I saw them."

"Saw who?"

The man sniffled. _"The killers."_

**Whoa there! Killers? With an S? Gasp! Not really. I feel like this is moving really fast right now. I promise it'll slow down a little. I just needed there to be something important that I could latch onto. Cuz if I didn't have something like this, then for the first five chapters it would be exactly the same as the first chapter. So... I promise that it'll slow down. Okay? Just hang with me for a little while. We really need to get to the Amuto before things can be good. Cuz that's the meat and potatoes of this story. XP So review, fave follow... Pretty please with a cherry on top! (Layla: So apparently we're five again. Me: Shut up. No one asked you. DX )**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! Wow. I've been getting a lot of reviews lately. O.O Normally I wouldn't be posting this quickly, what with school and other things, but you've all convinced me to try even harder. I mean, I can't just take and take and take. So I'm trying to give back with good chapters. :) ... I hope they're good. Okay, so this chapter is probably gonna be another rushing one. I just really want to get to the parts that'll be really good. I think they'll be really good. I hope they'll be really good. XP (Layla: They're gonna be awful. Nothing you ever write is good. People just lie to make you feel better. Me: Shut it! *sarcastically* Wow, you really do WONDERS for my self-esteem.) Onto the story! Hope you like it!**

**Flash of Pink**

**Chapter 3**

So many people. There were so many people. At least, she thought there were. But why did so many of them look the same?

_Right, _thought Leiko Ueda. _There aren't actually this many people. I'm just seeing double... _She noted how many people she saw. _Well... Maybe not double. Maybe triple. _She looked again. _Quadruple? A lot._

Voices echoed in her head. "Look at her eyes, Chou. They're so funny looking! The pupils are so big!"

"They're _dilated, _Etsuko. She probably can't see straight, actually. That tends to happen when people aren't seeing right. Right, Chou?"

"I don't know. I never paid attention in biology class."

"From my knowledge, that does happen."

"You think so, Akane?"

"Yeah. Not sure, though. I didn't pay attention in biology either." A laugh as clear and light as a bell chimed through the air. "Hey, I think we're done here, don't you think? I mean, if she's seeing double and we didn't hit her head or anything, she's probably pretty close to dead. Let's start it up while she's alive. What we've got planned is gonna take a good bit of time."

Leiko couldn't stand to think of what they were going to do to her. She didn't want to know. So she fainted.

She was only alive for five more minutes. It was another five before the killers left. One of the girls stayed where she stood for a second, staring at the dead girl as if thinking. "Akane-tan?"

Without looking away, Akane replied, "I'm coming. Just thought I saw something." She stood there for one more second before turning around and following the three others.

Leiko wasn't found for another three hours.

* * *

"Tsukiyomi-sama!" A new task force member ran into his office, yelling. "Tsukiyomi-sama, we have a new-"

"Not right now!" Ikuto hissed. He listened to the phone attentively, making sure to not miss a word the man was saying.

"It was... It was the killers. And they were covered in blood... So... So much b-blood..." He paused as if pulling himself back to the current situation. "Th-there were four of them. I couldn't tell if they were men or women... They went by too fast... And there was so much blood..." Another pause.

"Sir?" Ikuto interrupted. "Are you sure there were four? You're positive that you were just confused and got mixed up? That happens sometimes. People become so afraid that they hallucinate or perceive things incorrectly. Maybe you just saw one but were afraid so you mentally made the person into four-"

"No!" the man exclaimed. "There were four! I'm sure!" He stopped again. "There were four of them. Except for the blood there wasn't anything remarkable about them."

Ikuto sighed. So now they knew that there was four of them. And nothing else. Nothing at all. The pressure mounted till it was four times heavier than before. "Well, thank you for your information, sir. We'll keep that in mind as we continue working. Good by-"

"Wait!" Ikuto sighed internally and stopped so the man could talk. "I-I saw something."

Ikuto blinked. "You saw something?" He tried not to get his hopes up. That could mean anything. It could mean that he saw the body, or that he saw a crow or raven fly away and it had him spooked, it could mean that he saw-

"I saw a flash of pink."

Ikuto froze. "A flash... of pink?"

"Yes." He paused. "Now before you brush me off, I know that it was from one of them! I don't know what it was. But whatever it was... It floated in the wind. Like a really light fabric. Or feathers. Or someone's hair. And I wasn't just imagining it! I know what I saw! Please... Please believe me."

Ikuto paused at the sincerity in the man's voice. Normally Ikuto wouldn't even think before throwing his witness account out the window or into the pile of useless evidence. But this man had gotten through Nikaidou's test. Ikuto hesitated. Did he really want to just throw it away, just like that?

After another moment, he sighed. Well, they had nothing else to go on.

"Thank you for your time, sir," Ikuto said politely. "We'll keep that in consideration from now on. I appreciate your call. If you ever get anything else you think could be useful, please talk to Nikaidou. He'll tell you what to do from there."

After a few more goodbye's, Ikuto hung up and strode into the main hall. "Okay, someone look up in the city's population list for a person with keyword 'pink'!"

Nagi stared at Ikuto. "Pink?"

Ikuto sighed. "Yes, pink. I'll explain it later. Just do it."

About a minute later, someone called out, "Got it!" The man pulled up the image on the projector screen. There was a total of three people on the list. One was a man named Tadase Hotori; he was a teacher at Seiyo Elementary. Twenty-one years old. Blonde hair. Pink eyes. Ikuto automatically threw him out the window. **(A/N Lol. Didn't realize what that sounded like until after I typed it. Ikuto throwing Tadase out the window. XP) **He had pink eyes. Unless they'd popped themselves out and flew like feathers, it wasn't him. Assuming the man was right, that is.

He went to the next person on the list. It was a girl name Rikka Hiiragi. She had dark pink hair. Fifteen years old. As soon as he read her age, he automatically dismissed her too. True, she could be the killer. But she was fifteen. It was unlikely, especially if there were four people. They were probably all around the same age. The idea of four fifteen-year-olds killing people like it was art was very doubtful, to say the least.

So that left them with one last person. It was a woman. Her name was Amu Hinamori. Twenty-one years old. Pink hair. Gold eyes. Ikuto stared at her picture for a moment. Neither her hair color or eye color were normal. That was... Strange. Not to say he was any more normal, though. He took a second glance at her picture. She was extremely pretty. Ikuto continued reading. She was a teacher at Seiyo Elementary. Ikuto tried not to laugh. Two of the three people who'd come up were both teachers at the same school. _That's ironic, _Ikuto mused.

He looked at her profile. This woman was their best suspect so far. Anything else they'd come up with was flimsy or completely nonsensical. He looked at her profile again and deflated She was a teacher. _A kindergarten teacher. _A kindergarten teacher who was a murderer on the side? Not unheard of, but...

Ikuto sighed. Well, she was their best shot. "Okay, this Amu woman is the best that we have. Someone call Kukai and get him back here. We need to discuss it with him too."

Kukai was back in five minutes. "Okay, Tsukiyomi-sama, I know you told me to get you all of this stuff, but when I tried to make coffee-"

"We've got a suspect."

Kukai's eyes widened. "Woah!" he exclaimed. "Did that much really happen while I was gone?"

Ignoring his question, Ikuto immediately dove into the information. "I received a call from a man and he said he'd seen something. Someone with pink hair, or something pink that floated in the wind behind them, like a thin fabric or hair. So we looked up pink in the database. And we think that it's this woman. Amu Hinamori."

Kukai quickly read her profile. "Do you really think that it's her? She's a kindergarten teacher. As in, little children. Really little kids."

"Well, it's more likely than either of the other two. Especially since there's actually four killers."

Kukai looked at Ikuto doubtfully. "Pink could mean a lot of things. He said it was like light fabric too, right? Maybe the killer wears pink every time they go out and kill. People do that, right?" Ikuto stared at Kukai. Yes, he was right. It could be someone who wears pink every time. But it just didn't feel right. "And these people have naturally pink hair. There's a bunch of people who dye their hair pink. It doesn't necessarily have to be someone who naturally has pink hair, or something."

Ikuto sighed. Everything he'd said was true. But... It just didn't seem right. It was just the kind of feeling you got when you know you're right. Ikuto knew that on some gut level, the person had naturally pink hair, not dyed, and not all pink clothing. Maybe it wasn't one of these three, but this was all they had so far.

"No," Ikuto whispered. "It's natural. I just know." Ikuto glanced at the clock. Two forty-five. Ikuto smiled. "I think I'm going to go say hi to our main suspect."

He left his suit jacket in his office and loosened his tie. He could finally relax now that they had a lead. He smirked. Amu Hinamori. If she was really one of the killers, she'd better watch out. Because he was going to keep his eye on her. And if she slipped up, even a little bit, he would notice. He was going to watch her as if his life depended on it.

At all costs.

* * *

Amu Hinamori was reading a picture book to her little students, trying to help them learn the alphabet. "Archie the Apple said that his favorite letter was A! But Bobby the Butternut Squash said that the best letter was definitely B! Claire the Cat heard what they were saying and told that them C was totally the best letter!" Amu was about to turn the page when the bell rang, signaling the kids' release. She put the book down and told the kids, "Okay, go get your backpacks and line up in number order!"

Amu stood by the door as the kids did as she asked, talking excitedly. One of the kids, a little girl, couldn't get her backpack on. Amu rushed over and gently helped her get her arm through the strap. "There you go, Hadley."

Hadley smiled brightly and exclaimed, "Thank you, Hinamori-sensei!"

Amu laughed and replied, "You're welcome, Hadley." Amu gently pushed the girl forward and said, "Now get in line and we can go, okay?"

When Hadley got to the door, the students had all gotten in line as asked. Amu looked at the kids' order. She paused. "Kyou! Aren't you supposed to be behind Yuki?"

Kyou looked at his number again. "Oh! Five is after four!" He quickly corrected his placement and stood behind Yuki.

Amu nodded in approval. "Okay, everyone! Now take your partner's hand!" They did as she asked. Two of them blushed as the did. Amu smiled at them warmly. The two definitely had crushes on each other. At such a young age, too. "Follow the leader!" Amu exclaimed as she began to walk backwards out of the school building, making sure to keep an eye on each student and not losing any of them.

When they got outside, Amu stopped and said, "Now go find your parents if they're here! If they aren't then stay right here with me!" Most of the children left until there were only two left. She continued to walk backward again, about to turn around. "Let's go sit under the awning and get out of the su-"

She felt something hard and solid hit her back, making her stumble. Obviously whatever she'd run into hadn't expected her to run into it either, considering both toppled to the ground. Amu landed on whatever she'd run into. She turned her head to see what it was. Her eyes widened and she blushed when she saw a man laying on the ground under her, stomach up. And she'd landed right on his stomach. His really, really hard stomach.

Amu blushed at both their position and her thoughts. She jumped off of him, making sure to keep her pencil skirt covering everything. She bowed deeply, still blushing. "I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't see you there!" She noticed that the two students who'd been with her had found their parents and were gone.

"Hey, it's okay, I wasn't paying attention either." Pause. "You can back up now. It's not that big a deal." Amu blushed again and lifted herself upright.

"Well, it probably isn't very polite to fall on someone and not learn their name afterward," Amu joked. She held her hand out for him to shake it. "Amu Hinamori."

Ikuto glanced at her hand for a moment before taking it. "Ikuto Tsukiyomi."

"It's nice to meet you, Tsukiyomi-san. I'm sorry that I fell on you like that."

Ikuto smirked. "It's no problem at all. Having a pretty girl sit on my lap definitely wasn't that bad of an experience."

Amu blushed hard at that comment. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I suppose it wasn't my lap. It was my stomach. Which still was pretty nice. Especially after seeing that cute blush on your face."

Amu stared up at the man with a mixture of disbelief, disgust, and embarrassment. "Tsukiyomi-san, I must ask that you never say such things on an elementary school ground. There are children here!"

Ikuto smirked. "In case you didn't notice, sensei, there's no one here."

Amu looked around. He was right. There were only a few people left, and none of them were extremely young or close enough to hear anything they were saying. "Well... That's not the point!"

Ikuto had to admit it; he was enjoying himself. This Amu was fun to tease. Her expressions just made it so amusing. He almost forgot why he was here. Almost. He scanned her up and down, absorbing every detail. She was wearing a blazer and button-down shirt which, though the jacket tried to hide it, showed off just a little of the bust she had. He smirked and thought about making a comment on her flatter-than-normal chest, but decided against it. She wore a pencil skirt. The whole outfit was gray. Her pink hair was in a tight bun. So tight that it almost looked painful.

"You know, you're really funny," Ikuto mused. "It's so much fun to tease you."

Amu let out a strange "hmph" noise. "Well, I'm not here to be your toy, Tsukiyomi-san! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pack up my things and go home."

"I'll come with you," Ikuto added, following her as she walked.

The two of them walked into the school building and back into Amu's classroom. As she packed up, Amu stated, "You know, Tsukiyomi-san, I'm starting to feel a little intimidated. Are you trying to be my stalker?"

Unable to resist the temptation, Ikuto smirked wider and walked up behind the woman who was straightening her desk. He hugged her, her back to his chest. "Oh, I haven't even started trying yet."

Amu shot up pin-straight. Ikuto released her and chuckled. Amu turned to him and growled, "I could file you for sexual assault."

"I'm sorry, it was just so tempting, I couldn't resist." He turned to walk away and start thinking about what her reactions could mean about the suspect, if it fit at all. "I'll leave you alone." Ikuto stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at her. "Why don't we get together some time? It'll be fun."

Amu folded her arms over her chest and cocked her hip to the side. "Will you assault me again?"

Ikuto chuckled. "No. Nothing you can charge me for, at least. Only if you don't want me to, that is." He turned and walked back towards Amu's desk. He picked up a pen and wrote on the nearest piece of paper his cell phone number. Underneath, he wrote "Ikuto", underlined it, and on a whim, put a heart next to it. Amu leaned down and read it and she blushed again.

Ikuto was already halfway across the room again. He waved. "See you later, Amu."

Ikuto walked out of the room.

Amu stood behind her desk for about five minutes, not doing anything.

By saying that she would meet him again, she felt like she might have have just agreed to being harassed like that for a long, long time.

**Done! Jeez, that took a while. I couldn't decide what to write. I'm sorry! I feel like Ikuto's really out of character at the end. But I couldn't resist putting in a scene like that. I'm sorry! It'll get better! I think... Sorry! If it really is terrible, please tell me. And give me some advice on what I can do to make it better. Please?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay! Back again! Jeez... It takes me so long to update this story in particular... What the heck? I don't know. Well, I just came up with this thought today and decided it had been a while since I posted, so if it sounds a little strange, or not quite thought out completely... That's probably why. XP But... Anyways... Yeah. Hope you like it!**

**Flash of Pink**

**Chapter 4**

Ikuto strolled back into the task force headquarters, still smirking.

"Ts-Tsukiyomi-sama!" a new guy squeaked. "W-welcome back!"

Ikuto looked down at the shorter man. "Thanks. It's good to have you here."

The man blinked up at him in surprised. This was the Ikuto Tsukiyomi who would kill anyone who got out of line? The Ikuto Tsukiyomi who led the task force? The thought about all the awful stories he'd heard. Somehow, he found the rumors hard to believe. "Th-thank you."

But Ikuto had already left.

Ikuto saw Kukai and Nagi standing in front of the large screen that was projecting images of all sorts. There were six pictures of murder victims on it, as well as lines drawn between them, trying to find any connections. So far they only had one possible connection, and even that one was flimsy. The second and fifth victims were connected by a trail of friends. They'd probably never even met. Next to the pictures of the victims were the dates they'd been killed on.

Taking up a large part of the screen was a picture of Amu Hinamori, kindergarten teacher. But somehow, even seeing these gruesome scenes and the lines and dates that had been of no help, Ikuto was still smirking.

"Hey, Nagi, Kukai," he said casually. Nagi and Kukai stared at him in shock. Ikuto furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"You..." Nagi hesitated; he wasn't sure how to say his thoughts tactfully.

Of course, Kukai had no censors and blurted out, "You're being _nice!_"

Ikuto raised his eyebrows. "Is that a bad thing?"

"What Kukai means is that you seem to be in a much better mood than before you went to see Hinamori-san," Nagi hurriedly said.

Ikuto glanced at Nagi knowingly as he said, "I'm sure."

Ikuto sat down in a swivel chair in front of the screen. "Amu Hinamori interests me," he stated casually. "She's... _Amusing._" His smirk returned. "I think this might be worth a little more investigation."

Nagi was surprised. He'd never heard Ikuto talk about a girl that way before. And the way he said "amusing" was a little suspicious. Nagi had to admit it-he wasn't completely sure if this "investigation" he spoke of was totally in the interest of the case.

But at least Ikuto was enjoying himself. He needed an outlet like that. Nagi was worried though.

Because what if that girl turned out to be a killer?

"I think I'm going to take a nap," Ikuto said. "I haven't gotten enough sleep lately." He thought for a moment. "Can you guys go tell everyone that they can take a break? You all deserve it after all the work you've been doing."

Ikuto walked into his office, closed the door, and turned off the light. Nagi watched his boss's back as he did this.

For his friend's sake, he really hoped Amu was innocent.

* * *

Amu walked into her house. She closed and locked the door behind her. She collapsed onto the door behind her and steam practically came out of her ears from the severity of her blush.

"Argh!" Amu exclaimed. "Who _was _that guy?! Who does he think he is?!"

_"Ikuto Tsukiyomi."_

_"Having a pretty girl sit on my lap definitely wasn't that bad of an experience."_

_He picked up a pen and wrote on the nearest piece of paper his cell phone number. Underneath, he wrote "Ikuto", underlined it, and on a whim, put a heart next to it._

More steam came out of her ears. I can't believe that just happened! And then he walked up behind me and...!" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god!" She breathed in deep breaths. "Okay, okay... Everything is fine. No one saw any of that. And you'll probably never see him again. Everything will be okay."

Amu took another few calming breaths. She stood up straight and clapped her hands. "Okay! So let's get started!" She walked to the kitchen and began cooking. She was cutting celery when she started thinking again. Gradually, her hands began slowing down until they came to a stop. She turned her head and looked out the window at the sunset.

"Ikuto..." she murmured.

* * *

Katsumi Miyamoto laid on the ground, breathing heavily. Her lungs weren't absorbing the oxygen. Was she that close to death? Or maybe she was just having a panic attack? Or maybe something else?

She didn't know. All she knew was the pain. The horrible, terrible pain. It increased every moment. And she feared the pain. But not as much as when she would feel the pain dulling. Because if that happened... If that happened, then she would be...

"So what do you want to do this time?"

"Aw, Akane, thanks for asking."

"Come on, you're gonna make me sick. Just answer the question. And don't give me that sarcasm, Hisoka. I don't wanna hear that coming from you."

"Yeah, Hisoka-tan! Be nice to Akane!"

"Look, are we going to answer Akane's question or not?"

Silence. "I don't think you've chosen yet, Chou. Why don't you pick one?"

An evil chuckle. "I thought you'd never ask. Now, let's see... We're going to need this."

Katsumi couldn't take it anymore. Her body was merciful as it let her pass out, rather than staying conscious and suffering the pain to come.

* * *

Ikuto walked out of his office and yawned, stretching. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the brightness of the room. The majority of the people were sleeping on desks, in chairs, on the floor. Anywhere they possibly could. He glanced at the clock. Eight in the morning. He thought for a moment. He'd told them they could take a break at about seven yesterday. He blinked when he realized his nap had turned into a full-blown sleep session. He shook his head. He glanced at the scattered bodies around the room.

He'd give them another ten minutes. They'd earned it.

In the meantime, he'd start working again.

He sat down at a computer and began rereading the victim's files for what must've been the hundredth time. And it soon became apparent that he wouldn't be able to focus on reading when he could be talking to the suspect that they had. He sighed. He _would _talk to her and try to get some information, but it was Wednesday and school would have already started for them.

So he focused as hard as he possibly could on the computer screen.

Twenty minutes later, he'd exhausted himself by trying and failing to fix his attention on what he should be working on. He hadn't even realized that he'd broken his ten minute rule.

Nagi got out of his seat, yawning. He hadn't even known he'd fallen asleep. One minute he'd been trying to make connections, the next he was leaning over onto his desk with back hurting from spending hours in the same position. He stretched the feeling of sleep out of his muscles and heard someone groaning in frustration. Cocking his head to the side, he headed toward the sound. His eyes widened at the scene that awaited him.

"Tsukiyomi-sama?"

Ikuto turned to Nagi. He was obviously in a sour mood again. "What is it?"

"Um..." Nagi took a deep breath before he continued. "I may be out of line by saying this, but you seem to be in another bad mood. Is there any particular reason why?"

Ikuto stared at Nagi, wondering whether he should tell him or not. He sighed. "It's just... I haven't done any field work in so long. Ever since I became the leader of this task force, I've mainly been doing work behind my desk. And going out again to do something for the case... I just can't get back into the sedentary job now that I've done field work again."

Nagi smiled sympathetically. He himself had never had that problem; he'd always done field work and it wasn't often that he did work in the office, with this case being the exception. But he could understand why Ikuto was upset about his situation, especially considering that it's Ikuto. He was like a cat; he liked to roam and go his own way. But being trapped behind a desk is the exact opposite of what he would like to do.

"Well... Again, I might be out of line, but... Just because you have a sedentary job doesn't mean you always _have _to be sitting down. You _are _allowed to go do what you love."

Ikuto stared at Nagi in surprise. Then he started chuckling quietly. "Yes, you are out of line by saying that. But I think I can let it slide this time."

Nagi smiled. "Thank you, Tsukiyomi-sama."

Ikuto stood up and looked at the clock. Thirty minutes over his set time for them. He cleared his throat before yelling, "Alright, all of you get up! You got a _break, _not a day off!"

The officers all groaned and slowly got to their feet. Ikuto couldn't help but smile at the group of men.

He had a great team working with him.

**Okay! Done! Oh, jeez, that last part ended up being really weird. Dangit. I wanted to fit in another visit with Amu but then the chapter would be too long... Cuz it was only eight when he woke up... Darnit. Oh well. What do you think? Be honest, please!**


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